What We Do

The Royal Historical Society of Victoria (RHSV) was formed in 1909 and is a community organisation committed to collecting, researching and sharing an understanding of the history of Victoria.

With the support of a large number of volunteers, the RHSV provides a full program of activities such as lectures, seminars, excursions and exhibitions for the benefit of members and the general public.

Regular events each year include Melbourne Day, History Week, the New Historians Evening, the Royal Society joint Lecture and the Victorian Community History Awards. We organise a biannual conference and have a key note speaker delivering the Augustus Woskel lecture.

Publications

The RHSV publishes six newsletters per year, a reviewed journal and books of historical interest. Our activities are open to all Victorians.

Membership

Today, the Society has over 1000 individual members, as well as functioning as the umbrella organisation for more than 300 local and specialist historical societies throughout Victoria. RHSV membership is open to those who have an interest in history and who wish to join.

The Collection

The RHSV’s collection is used extensively by local history and family researchers, post-graduate students, authors and commercial enterprises. We offer personal advice and assistance to individual researchers and a research service to business organisations and government agencies. We host visits to our collections and exhibitions from the public, community groups and schools, and maintain links with State and local government through membership of advisory committees and boards.